


Yang's Tricycle

by Kiiratam



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Blake is triggered, Canon Compliant, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Third Wheels, relationships are complicated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22627375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam
Summary: Yang's out at dinner alone when she hears some familiar voices nearby.Takes place between Volumes 2 and 3. (My BMBLB fic index)
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Sun Wukong, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 47
Kudos: 114





	1. Chapter 1

"Um, sorry, I think need more time." Yang put on an apologetic grin for her waitress.

  
Who gave her an _excellent_ customer service smile back. Yang almost couldn't tell. "That's okay! Just flag me down when you're ready. I'll have your drink in just a moment." She bustled off, tail wagging, probably to tables that would actually _order_ something.

  
Yang picked up the menu again. Maybe once she had a sunrise in her, she'd be able to relax.

  
The week hadn't even been that bad! Good progress in practice, homework wasn't soaking up all her free time, Bumblebee was behaving...

  
But she was down in Vale, at the new sushi place. Alone. Because Blake had said she was busy. And hadn't gone into details.

  
Which was fine. Totally fine. Just unexpected. Because for the last few weeks Fridays had been their-

  
_Don't you dare call it date night, Xiao Long. Not even in your own head. They're not dates, you're not in a relationship with Blake. No matter how much you fantasize about it._

  
So Blake had made plans without her. She was her own person. They didn't have to be joined at the hip.

  
Yang made herself look on the bright side. She could give Blake an opinion on whether _Dory's Nori_ was any good. ...Though Jun and Char had raved about it, last time Blake and Yang had gone to their grocery. And the place was packed. Surprisingly not too loud; they had a lot of noise baffles and screens set up, divvying up the dining room. That it was good was kind of a given. Yang could at least try some sushi rolls, and share her opinions on those. Did they have some kind of variety platter that was fish-focused?

  
She'd felt kind of weird for ordering a strawberry sunrise - she was surprised they even offered them, and had come prepared to drink sake - but the bar was well stocked, and most everyone else she had seen there alone had a cocktail. Which made some amount of sense. Sake was meant to be shared, and all that. She'd learned that one from Qrow - he'd recommended it as a drink to bring over if you wanted an icebreaker. As opposed to just something to get drunk off of. Which, given Qrow, was basically anything. 

  
Thinking about her uncle's bad habits was a good way to put her off her drink, though, so Yang tried to refocus on the menu.

  
They did have a couple of variety platters - fish, vegetarian, seafood in general, one that was just listed as Faunus Fusion. Which, given what Blake had said, probably meant 'whatever odds and ends are cluttering up the kitchen.'

  
It was a Faunus restaurant, after all. The host, all the servers, most of the clientele... Yang felt a little out of place. And took that feeling, stuck it on a stand, and enshrined it in a corner of her mind. With a banner that said 'REMEMBER' hanging behind it. Because subtlety wasn't exactly the point here. She could go to hundreds of restaurants, and fit in fine. Blake - Blake without her bow, at least - couldn't.

  
Yang couldn't blame Blake for just not wanting to deal with it. Here, at least, she wouldn't have to. ...But she'd still be wearing her bow. Just in case a classmate saw her. Blake's bow reduced the amount of nonsense she had to deal with, but it also meant she couldn't ever really relax.

  
All because of morons like Cardin. 

  
Forcing herself to unclench her fist, Yang put her friendly face back on. It wouldn't do any good to get mad at Cardin here. It would be really easy for someone to get the wrong impression. And normally, Yang could care less what other people thought - but this wasn't her place. If she looked ready to punch someone, she could ruin everyone else's night. Including the staff, who probably had to put up with enough stupidity from their human customers. 

  
A busboy trundled past her, with the dishes from the table behind her. He glanced at her, and returned her smile with a genuine-looking one, his tall ears perked up. She'd gotten lucky, with him not going by a few seconds earlier.

  
Blake had told her about the early days of the Faunus Rights Revolution. A much more street-level view than Dr. Oobleck had given them. There had been a surprising amount of bare-fisted brawling in the streets, with roving gangs of Counter-Revolutionaries going into Faunus spaces to pick fights, and the Faunus forming gangs - militias, really - to fight back. Even if things had escalated from there, to real weapons and real armies, the low-level stuff hadn't stopped. Yang could definitely see Cardin leading a Counter-Revolution gang. He had the right mindset for it. 

  
The waitress set her drink down, but there was a crash of something falling a few tables down. Yang went back to a deliberate study of the menu, waving off the apologetic smile her waitress offered. She wasn't really in a rush to eat.

  
Really, Yang had just needed to get out of the room, do something different. And by the time she'd realized Blake had other plans, everyone else had already settled on their Friday night activities. Ruby was neck-deep in a project for her weapons lab, and Yang knew better than to try to pry her away from that. Weiss had gone off on some family business - some kind of fancy meet-and-greet, or something. And she'd invited Pyrrha along. The rest of JNPR had gone to some gaming club for a **TABARZIN 20,000** tournament, and Yang hadn't wanted to hang around and watch Jaune and Nora play. Or watch painting tutorials with Ren. She hadn't even been able to find Sun. Or Neptune, but that wasn't a huge loss, from her point of view. 

  
And Yang knew plenty of other people at Beacon, but... if she was going to have to put on her friendly and flirty face, and get raked by lust eyebeams, she may as well just go to a club, and not worry about the consequences at all. Yang didn't really want to pick up more 'friends' who she didn't care about, and were only following her around hoping to get lucky. It had been freeing at Signal, but now...

  
She took a sip of her strawberry sunrise, and toyed with the little umbrella. Not best she'd ever had, but still good. Now it was just waiting for her waitress to be free again. Yang had settled on the fish platter. Unless she changed her mind at the last moment. The seafood platter did look interesting, and mystery of the Faunus Fusion one was tempting.

  
They were seating people at the table behind her, and she heard a familiar voice ask, "So what are you going to get?"

  
_No way._ Yang poked her head around the screen. "Sun?"

  
He was actually wearing a shirt - which qualified as a minor miracle - and his face split into an enormous grin when he saw her. "Hi Yang! I guess you heard this place was good too!"

  
And now Yang knew what Blake's plans had been. Because she was sitting across the table from Sun. In the dress she'd worn to the dance. Looking over her shoulder at Yang.

  
Yang focused on Sun. "Yeah. I did. It's got nice atmosphere."

  
"Want to pull up your chair? No point in you eating alone. Have you ordered yet?"

  
"Just this." Yang brought her drink into view. Blake hadn't said anything yet. But she didn't look upset? Maybe it would be okay?

  
Blake shifted her chair over to make room. Relaxing a bit, Yang stood up and swung her chair over. Sat down, and took another sip.

  
"We were planning on getting sake, if you want any." Sun picked up his menu. "See anything good yet?"

  
She'd left her menu at her table. "Um, there were a few platters that looked good. They had a fish one, Blake." Yang reached over and pointed on Blake's copy. "I was probably going to get that one too. What about you?"

  
"Vacuo rolls. Maybe if I drench them in wasabi, I'll be able to forget all this bland Vale food."

  
Yang rolled her eyes. "'Burning' isn't a flavor, Sun."

  
"Come on, Yang, what are you afraid of? I bet if you put enough on, you can charge your Semblance."

  
"Sun, you haven't eaten my cooking. Trust me, I know what flavors are."

  
He laughed. "'Cookie' isn't a flavor either."

  
"It absolutely is, and if you try to tell Ruby otherwise, she will both cry and kick your butt. But that's my baking, not my cooking. I make a mean stir fry." She looked at Blake for support. 

  
But Blake just stood up, and said, "I'll be right back. Bathroom." And slipped off.

  
_Um_. 

  
Sun put his elbows on the table, leaning forward, and 'whispering', "Oooh, I don't know if Blake agrees with you on that. Probably because she knows what flavors are."

  
_Okay, something's wrong._

  
"Yeah, probably." She couldn't match wits with Sun and figure this out. "You two take the shuttle?"

  
_Obviously, but it'll buy me time. Is it just that I'm a third wheel here? I mean, Sun invited me over. And Blake didn't object._

  
"Duh. We can't all have a sweet ride. You must have parked around back. I didn't see Bumblebee when we came in."

  
Yang shook her head. "Lot around the corner. Dedicated motorcycle parking."

  
_Third wheeling is awkward, but that's it. And Sun really doesn't seem to mind. He's still all chatty. And I wasn't getting awkward feelings off of Blake._

  
"Oh, okay. Hey, do you think could teach me to ride? I've always been curious."

  
Yang shrugged. "Sure. I can point you at my motorcycle shop, too. They've got a good beginner program."

  
_Sun's always chatty. That doesn't mean anything. But Blake just... blanked on me. Not upset, not awkward, just there._

  
The waitress re-appeared. "You all friends?"

  
"Yup!" Sun looked around a bit. "I guess we freed you up a table. Could we get an order of sake?"

  
She nodded. "I'll have that right out." 

  
_It's just a coincidence. We both knew about this place, she must have invited Sun - or Sun invited her out, and she suggested this place, doesn't matter - and Sun's right. This place is pretty busy. It's only practical to have us all at the same table. It's fine._

  
But Blake was worrying her. A lot. If this was an actual date between her and Sun, Yang would have expected _some_ kind of reaction. Just a flash of irritation, or even just surprise. And if it wasn't a date - or date-like thing, at least - why hadn't Blake just invited her along in the first place?

  
Sun leaned back in his chair. "So how did _you_ hear about this place?"

  
"Just chatting with a local grocer. Blake gets sushi there a lot, so they mentioned it last time we were there. They said it was amazing, so-" Yang shrugged. "Here I am. How about you?"

  
"Oh, Blake told me." He looked around, a bit concerned. "She's taking a while."

  
_Yeah, she is._

  
"Probably just freshening up."

  
_I can't just sit here and try to figure out what's wrong. I know **something's** wrong, and my understanding isn't as important as Blake and Sun's... whatever this is._

  
Yang slapped her forehead, and pulled out her scroll, opening her calendar. "Heck."

  
Cocking his head at her, Sun asked, "What is it?"

  
"Ugh, sorry, Sun, I have to head out. I had something scheduled, and I completely forgot about it." She stuffed her scroll back in her pocket, pushing her chair back and standing.

  
Sun gave her a skeptical look. "For a Friday night?"

  
And now Yang had to expand her lie into something believable. Or come clean. "It's a game tournament, and Nora's competing. I promised I'd come watch." 

  
"Oh. I'd say you should at least have a drink first, but you're driving."

  
She nodded, twisting her lips with only slightly feigned regret. "If either of you want my sunrise, I've barely started. I can toss you some lien for the sake-"

  
"Nah, it's okay." Sun waved her off. "Get going, don't want to disappoint Nora."

  
"Thanks, Sun." Yang forced her voice to stay friendly and casual for the next part. "You two have fun, okay?"

  
He grinned at her. "You bet!"

  
The waitress was coming back to them, sake and cups in hand. Giving her a curious look.

  
Yang showed her another apologetic smile. They were just trading these back and forth. "Sorry, I've got to run. Can I pay for my drink up front?"

  
"Um, just follow me. One moment." She set the sake and two cups down, said, "Enjoy!" brightly to Sun, and led the way back towards the front, carrying what would have been Yang's cup. After a word with the host - who started working away, pulling up Yang's check - the waitress took a step closer to Yang, asking quietly, "Is there something wrong? Your other friend - she's crying in the bathroom."

  
Yang started swearing in the comfort and privacy and _stupidity_ of her own head. "I think I crashed their date night." She eyed the waitress - who did seem genuinely concerned. And it wasn't like Yang had any other options. "I'm really sorry to ask, but... could you go in there and let her know I had to leave? I'd tell her myself, but I don't think she wants to see me right now." There was a lot more edge in her voice than she intended.

  
"Oh." The waitress swallowed, and met Yang's red eyes. "Yeah, I can tell her."

  
Blowing out a breath, Yang shook her head, trying to flip her eyes back to normal. "Sorry, it's just... complicated."

  
Yang saw her relax a little bit. The waitress said, with a most actual feeling Yang had heard from her yet, "I know how _that_ goes." She bustled off, and Yang was certain that tail wagging was performative.

  
The host handed over her check, and Yang added a 200% drama tax to the total and tip. She'd been planning on paying that much for dinner anyway, and her appetite had vanished. Hopefully the waitress would appreciate it. Not that it made up for anything. 

  
Keeping her friendly face on, Yang made polite noises at the host, who invited her to come back again soon. And Yang forced herself to walk out normally, gently push the exterior door open, and keep up the facade of calmness as she walked back to Bumblebee.

  
She straddled her bike, and put her helmet and aviators on. Her eyes safely hidden, she took the leash off of her emotions. Pulling out her scroll, the edges of the world pulsing as she wrote a message to Nora.

  
<You still playing?>

  
Nora sent back an image of the battlefield, a section of the enemy army circled in hot pink. <LOOK AT THIS. WHO DOES THIS?>

  
<Changed my mind. I'll be there in a few. And jerks, that's who.> Yang wasn't sure what was wrong with the unit Nora had circled, but she could always ask Jaune. But Nora's question only had one real answer.

  
<COOL, YOU CAN WATCH ME AND JAUNE GET LUCKED.>

  
Yang blew out a breath. She'd fixed as much as she could with Blake. Because with what the waitress had told her - Yang had conjured up memories of bad times for Blake. And it was especially bad, because Yang hadn't _meant_ to do anything like that. It was just a dumb coincidence. But coincidence or not, intended or not, Yang had hurt her friend. And now she had to just ride away, and hope Blake could handle it, because she _couldn't_ help. The only thing Yang could do was try never to do this again.

  
But she hadn't _done_ anything! It was just stupid, random chance that had decided to ruin her.

  
No, no that wasn't quite true. Yang hadn't realized what was going on soon enough. She could have - should have - left sooner. 

  
_Okay, for the future - Blake stops emoting, even if she doesn't do her breathing trick - something is wrong. Switch to damage control._

  
_I just wish she'd **talk** to me. Fumbling in the dark isn't making it easier for either of us._

  
Yang squeezed her hands into fists. 

  
_And blaming her for her traumas? **That's** supposed to help?_

  
_It took years before dad could really talk about Summer. And he still doesn't talk about Raven. I can't control Blake, can't make her deal with her trauma on my schedule; I just need to do everything I can to help._

  
Blowing out another long breath, Yang switched Bumblebee on. She'd only had two sips of her drink, so that shouldn't be a problem. Her anger at herself was probably going to be a bigger problem. _Just go slow and careful._

  
Yang checked her scroll, finding the game store the tournament was at. Plotted a route in her head, and eased Bumblebee into motion.

  
_Okay, so there's nothing more I can do to help this situation. Maybe apologize to Blake later, after morning practice, when she can get away from me if she needs to._

  
Thinking of herself as a threat to Blake was _deeply_ uncomfortable. With a mental sigh, she tacked that feeling up next to her memory of being out of place at _Dory's Nori_ , outnumbered by Faunus. Yang didn't have to like it for it to be a real danger. 

  
Some idiot driver in a slick car was tailgating her. Honked, and gestured angrily out their window.

  
Yang fought down the urge to show them how fast she could go, or respond with a few gestures of her own, and just kept her steady pace. She was going the speed limit; they could deal with it.

  
_I need to figure out what exactly set Blake off. Rational or not._

  
_Okay, assuming that she and Sun were on a date -_

  
_I need to be okay with that, too. We're team-mates, and friends, and maybe we'll become more, but I don't have any claim on her. She can spend time with whoever she wants. And what, that's two date-like events with Sun? Tonight and the dance? As opposed to our usual Friday night stuff?_

  
_I'm not going to worry about it, I'm not competing with Sun for Blake. Sun and I are friends too._

  
_Okay, it was a date, I showed up, Blake goes quiet -_

  
"What is your **problem** , you dumb blonde?!"

  
Apparently the universe was offering her an apology. They were stopped at a red light, and the driver of the fancy car behind her had gotten out, and was stalking angrily towards her.

  
Yang dismounted.

  
"Use your **damn** accelerator! It's not hard!" He was squaring up with her, fists clenched.

  
She really wasn't in the mood to trade barbs. So Yang just skipped ahead a few steps, dropped into her lowest stance, and threw a hook into his groin.

  
He should really know better than to pick fights when he didn't even have an Aura. Yang hopped back on Bumblebee; the light had changed. He might make the next one.

  
Yang picked the strands of her thoughts back up.

  
_Sun actually didn't seem to mind. But we flirt all the time, anyway, so maybe he was just hoping for a date with two hot girls instead of one. Anyway, he's not the problem here._

  
_That's me. On purpose or not._

  
_Did Blake think I was following her? I was there first!_

  
_And traumas definitely make sure that the situation is completely rational before triggering. Yeah._

  
_With the freedom to be irrational about the exact circumstances - yeah, going on a date with one person you're interested in, and the other person you're interested in shows up... I can see that being bad._ _Especially when your last relationship was - if I'm guessing right from all the pieces I have, and there's no guarantee of that **at all** \- really controlling. Among other things._

  
Yang swore some more, echoing them off the - apparently empty - inside of her own head. _I'm going to have to just back off in general, until Blake feels comfortable again._

  
_Why didn't she just use our hand signals?_

  
**_Not. Her. Fault._ **

  
She really hoped she could distract herself with Nora's playing. Or get Jaune to explain the rules in more detail. Heck, maybe she could pick up some airbrushing tips, either talking with Ren, or the master painters there. Anything. Yang didn't want to be alone in her head at the moment. She couldn't fix anything else, she had good guess on what had gone wrong, and now... It was just falling back, and trying not to beat herself up too much.

  
Yang made her spare thoughts focus on how Bumblebee was sounding, making sure she was running fine. It wouldn't be a bad idea to do some maintenance tomorrow, just take everything apart, clean, lubricate, maybe touch up the paint job...

  
It would keep her busy. And out of Blake's way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake is not having a good time.

"Excuse me, where's the bathroom?"

  
_Even, calm. Almost there._

  
"Just follow me, miss."

  
Blake swallowed, keeping her face carefully neutral, and followed the waitress. Just focusing on her wagging tail.

  
"Right here."

  
"Thank you."

  
Opening the door, she slipped inside. Single occupancy, good. Blake locked the door behind her.

  
And collapsed back against it, shuddering out a breath.

  
_Safe. Let it out._

  
A sob tore its way out of her chest, hurting so much that Blake tried to use her Aura. It didn't help.

  
_Stupid, STUPID, **STUPID**!_

  
_Why did I think this was going to work?! Why did I think **any** of this was going to work?!_

  
_...She's just like Adam._

  
_And Sun is just as clueless as Ilia! He won't help me, because he can't even tell there's a problem!_

  
She was going to have fix her make-up. After she ran out of tears.

  
_I can't live through this again. I won't._

  
_...Where can I go?_

  
_I am **out** of options. I've burned every bridge I ever saw. _

  
_I'm never going back to Adam. And Aunt Sienna - she won't help. I'm a deserter from the Cause. Just like my parents. She wouldn't stop Adam._

  
_And I can't go home. After everything I said to them - I can't. They hate me. I'd hate me._

  
_Even if I could find Ilia - what is she going to do? Hand me back over to Adam? Throw her life away to help me? I won't make her make that choice._

  
Blake, distantly, realized that she was getting too loud. She wasn't actually safe in here. Just in comparison to out there.

  
_Breathe in, hold it, breathe out._

  
Actually being able to manage her breathing trick - it was an unexpected relief. Blake kept it up, as her mind kept whirling.

  
_I can't tell Ruby. What would I even say? 'Hi, your sister is a monster, bye!'_

  
_...I can just go to Ozpin. Tell him I need to transfer to Shade. Or even Haven. Tell him it's about the White Fang._

  
_It wouldn't even be a lie._

  
_It's about Adam._

  
_Everything I am is about Adam._

  
_I ran away, but I can't escape._

  
_I thought I could. I thought Yang was different._

  
_She isn't. She's just smarter than Adam. Better at hiding._

  
_Or she decided that I was hers. And is starting to act like Adam._

  
_Even I'm not stupid enough to fall for the exact same thing twice._

  
_Just 'turning up' when I'm on a date with Sun. What a 'coincidence', Yang! What **are** the odds?_

  
_Oh sure, we can chat and have fun, and pretend like you're not following me. Keeping tabs on my movements. I wonder if she got it out of Sun. Or if Sun was bragging to his team, and Yang got it from one of them._

  
_I wonder how she paid for the information. Just a 'favor', like she must have done with her Signal friends? Or did she just trick it out of them? It's not like SSSN has a single brain between the four of them._

  
A credulous part of her tried to argue with that. _Be nice to Sun. He invited you out, and can be really sweet and funny._

  
_Oh, **excuse me** , let me just go back out there and let him screw me on the table. He only invited me out for one reason. I only have two skillsets, and he doesn't want me for my ability to hurt people. At least Adam valued my ability to hurt people **and** my ability to slut it up._

  
_So that's it? Everyone is Adam? Even Ruby? Pyrrha? Nora? Weiss?_

  
_...Yes._

  
_...Even for me, that's stupid. Stop making Adam more than he is! He's just a spiteful man who was smarter than a romantic **child**. He isn't the source of all evil, all pain. He just likes hurting people, and he had plenty of time to practice on me. _

  
There was a rap on the door. "Miss?" It was their waitress.

  
_...Had she just been outside the entire time?_

  
"It's okay if you don't want to let me in. I just wanted to let you know that your human friend had to leave."

  
_...Did she get tossed out? No, I would have heard it. Yang doesn't fight quiet._

  
Blake's voice broke when she answered. "Th- Thank you."

  
"Do you want me to tell your date anything? He's looking kind of worried."

  
"Just - tell him I had a make-up disaster. I'll be out soon." Blake pushed off the door and looked at herself in the mirror. 'Disaster' was apt. She started cleaning herself up, through what she hoped were the last of the tears.

  
_It will be okay. Yang left._

  
_She realized her scheme failed. Or she just showed up to do **this** to me. _

  
_Or, it actually **was** as coincidence. Jun and Char told both of us about this place. _

  
_So what, she just came here to try it out? Didn't bother to tell me?_

  
_I didn't tell her where I was going._

  
_I shouldn't have to.. It was none of her business._

  
_And she still turned up. Maybe if I'd actually opened my dumb mouth and told her 'hey, I'm checking out_ Dory's Nori _with Sun', I wouldn't have been sobbing in their bathroom._

  
_Or she would have still turned up. Then what?_

  
_Then I would have actually had confirmation that she was acting like Adam. As opposed to this. I mean, she already had her drink! And time to look at the menu -_

  
_\- and tell me what to order -_

  
_Stop it. She was pointing out something I might like. You think Adam would have actually let you order for yourself? No, it would have been 'the lady will have-'._

  
_Yang was here before us._

  
_She's smart, but unless she was breaking speed records on Bumblebee, she couldn't have gotten here first. It takes forever to get down the access road. And traffic is horrible at this time of day._

  
Blake was eternally grateful that whoever had designed her dress had included a pocket. It wasn't much - it couldn't be, not without ruining the lines of the outfit, but at least she could fit her room key, scroll, and emergency make-up.

  
_Yang left. And she's never tried to hurt me before. She's never done anything like this before._

  
_Maybe she has, and I was just too dumb to notice it._

  
_Stop. I'm not dumb. I was young and romantic, and I turned my back on anyone who said I was making a mistake. I was stupid then, but I. Figured. It. Out._

  
_Sun's waiting for me. I've ruined this whole date. Even if he didn't call it a date. Just invited me out. To dinner. On a Friday night. Just me._

  
_I just... wanted to be normal again. Just a regular girl, on a regular date._

  
_So much for that._

  
_I'm still too broken for that. Even if I can glue myself together -_

  
_Well, tonight proved how easily I can shatter again._

  
_I'm still here. I haven't run. Haven't slipped out the back door and made for the docks, running away again._

  
_And Yang has been there for me. Helped me before, the other times I started cracking. So. Many. Times._

  
_She listens when I tell her to back off. Slow down._

  
_Even if I couldn't manage it tonight. She still figured it out._

  
_I hope. I really hope she did._

  
Blake turned her head one way, then the other, checking her re-applied make-up. Not perfect, but it wasn't obvious that she'd been crying.

  
_Breathe in, hold it, breathe out._

  
_I'm okay. I'm safe. I can go out there and try to have fun._

  
_Just relax. Sun's funny. I just have to get back out there._

  
_Breathe in, hold it, breathe out._

  
She unlocked the door, and opened it.

* * *

"Hey Blake?"

  
_Breathe in, hold it, breathe out._

  
Yang had taken her time getting back to the locker room after practice. She was still covered in sweat, sitting down on the bench, taking her boots off.

  
Closing her locker, Blake fought down the part of her brain that was trying to make her panic. "Yes?" She couldn't look at Yang, so she started digging around in her bookbag, pretending to look for something. Pretending that this was going to be normal.

  
"I'm really sorry about yesterday. I thought I'd go there without you, and see how it was, and-" Yang stopped, blew out a breath. "I promise I didn't mean to crash your date. I'm- would it help if I let you know where I was going? Or just sent it in teamchat? I'm sure Weiss would appreciate knowing where I am, so she can plot me on her mental map."

  
_That was true. Weiss always appreciated accommodations to her organizational impulses._

  
"...Blake?"

  
"I **heard** you." _I'm trying to believe you. Trust you._ Blake looked up, caught Yang's eyes. "Look me in the eye and tell me it was just a coincidence."

  
Yang swallowed, but kept her purple eyes locked on Blake's. "I didn't go there to interrupt your date. I didn't know you were going to be there at all. I promise."

  
_Breathe in, hold it, breathe out._

  
"Okay." Blake turned, and started walking away. 

  
_It wasn't her fault. Why do I have to make her suffer for it? It's not fair to her._

  
_Why did I have to suffer for it? That's not fair either._

  
Exiting the locker room, she leaned up against the wall. It was going to be okay. She believed Yang. But that didn't erase her pain. 

  
Her scroll chimed. Blake unrolled it, opening RWBY's teamchat.

  
< **Yang** : If anyone wants to see all of Bumblebee's inner workings, I'm going to be doing deep maintenance after my shower.>

  
< **Ruby** : Don't misplace the teeniest and importantest screws again!>

  
< **Yang** : Sorry, can't hear your taunting over my shower!>

  
< **Ruby** : It's a text chat, you can't hear me at all!>

  
And Weiss had just posted her entire schedule for the day.

  
_I'm more than my pain. More than the scar tissue Adam left._

  
< **Blake** : Going to be studying in the library.>

  
_I'm going to get better. Even if I fall down, I'm going to get back up._

  
< **Blake** : _Dory's Nori_ is a really good sushi place, by the way. We should go there as a team sometime.>

  
< **Ruby** : It's a date!>

  
< **Weiss** : Ruby, we literally do not have a date for it yet. How does Sunday after next sound?>

  
< **Ruby** : Now its a date!>

  
< **Blake** : Sure.>

  
< **Ruby** : Yang, what do you think?>

  
< **Ruby** : Sis?>

  
< **Ruby** : Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggg>

  
< **Weiss** : Ruby, I think she's actually in the shower.>

  
< **Ruby** : Oh. Yeah. Right. Well, let us know when you get out, sis.>

  
_Breathe in, hold it, breathe out._

  
_I don't have to do this alone._


End file.
